


Divided We Fall

by Skye_La



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Emma is a puppy, F/F, Henry is a secret tweeter, Light beard bashing, Marian is the only one who knows what she's doing, Prompt Fic, Regina is grumpy af, Tequila consumption, non-magic au, tv show au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7258144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_La/pseuds/Skye_La
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Former teen sweethearts Emma and Regina reunite on a reboot of the TV show they met working on, though it's not half as idyllic as it once was...</p><p>This is based on<a href="https://twitter.com/solosolooo/status/721449228472623104"> this prompt</a>. If you are looking for meta TV show fics I cannot recommend <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4607199">Send Up A Signal</a> highly enough. If there’s anything in this that smacks of that, it’s unintentional but very possibly accidentally borrowed. I don't go into Henry being Emma's kid, it got a bit much to try and fit in. </p><p>**TW for discussions of racism.**</p><p>  <i></i><br/>“Once Again…” is an American family sitcom and sequel to the 1994-99 television series “Once…”, airing as a Netflix original series. It was created by Adam Softshell and Isaac Heller, and is produced by Softshell Productions in association with Gold Industries. The series centers around Katie White (Emma Swan), a feisty sheriff who goes to great lengths for those she loves, and her former childhood friend turned boss, Mayor Maria Santiago (Regina Mills), who seems determined to break the spell of peace and prosperity that has so long enchanted sleepy Stevenson, Maine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divided We Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Helena Solo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Helena+Solo).



> This is for Helena Solo for making a beautiful Swan Queen Army hummingbird with sword for [Hummingbirdswords](http://archiveofourown.org/users/hummingbirdswords/pseuds/hummingbirdswords).
> 
> Extra special thank you to [I_Delta_I ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Delta_I/pseuds/I_Delta_I)for being amazing, weeding out my typos and helping me keep the story together.

1

Regina walks into the table read in a breeze of confidence, like she’s never been more comfortable in her life. It’s a true testament to her acting skill because in all honesty, she wants to throw up.

“Gina!” Sidney says, pulling out a chair beside him. She hasn’t seen him since the show ended in ‘99 and she doesn’t think she’s thought of him since.

“Regina, please” she says, stopping a few chairs away from him, choosing the one nearest to the door without putting her back to it. 

“Oh right, of course!” he splutters. She smiles to placate him and he returns it with gusto. She puts down the two cups of coffee she brought and takes a moment to check her phone. 

“Oh wow” Says a familiar voice. She knows who it belongs to she absolutely will not give in to curiosity. Until she does.

“Hey” Emma beams at the whole room from the door “how weird is this?”

She’s swamped immediately. Regina only catches a glimpse of her brilliant smile and a flash of a red jacket before David whips her into a hug that she genuinely seems to enjoy. Lance shakes her hand when she’s back on the ground again.

“Fucking hell, Lance, you were this tall last time I saw you”

“I know” he smiles, looking down at her hand somewhere around hip height. 

Regina takes off the sunglasses she’s been wearing. She wishes Marian would get here already.

“Right!” Isaac Heller, writer and producer appears in the doorway behind the group. He looks like the same odd combination of old man and young boy that he always did, maybe grayer now. They clear out of the way and Regina purposefully ignores Emma looking at her. “Let’s get to it shall we?” 

He walks to the table with too much energy. Everyone is seated and grinning at each other with the exception of Regina who doesn’t grin on principle. She looks down at her phone again as Isaac pulls stacks of scripts from his bag.

_  
_

R: Where the fuck are you?

M: Traffic babe, be there soon.x

R: Oh please. Get out of bed with that man and get over here.

M: Firstly, how dare you. Secon-

“Regina?” she looks up and takes a script being handed to her by David

“Oh, thank you”

“You’re welcome. You look really well”

“Oh.” she repeats, momentarily caught off-guard by the sympathy in his eyes that digs into her skin. The divorce. He feels sorry for her. It makes her want to set him on fire.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do” he smiles genuinely. She returns it because she can’t promise civility if she opens her mouth. 

She looks around the table. Emma has a pen in hand already, smiling and writing on her script. Mary Margaret has scooted her chair closer to Emma’s to read what she’s writing. She laughs and glances up to Regina, to whom she gives a pitying smile. Maybe she can’t do this afterall.

“Sorry I’m late!” Marian appears in the door and pulls off her own sunglasses. There’s a round of greetings and she returns them smiling and brushing hair easily from her face as she sits next to Regina. “God, thank you for the coffee, you’re a lifesaver” 

“You’re a terrible friend” Regina says under her breath

“Speaking of terrible friends, she’s looking good” she says before sipping her coffee with an arched eyebrow. Regina won’t dignify it with a response and turns her attention to her script.

“Marian, hi!” Emma waves. Regina pretends she’s absorbed in reading and not watching Emma out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey old friend, how are you?” Marian reaches across the table to squeeze her hand.

“I’m so weirded out but in a good way” 

Marian laughs her real laugh and Regina feels a stab of jealousy. 

“Oh tell me about it. Lance! I haven’t seen you since when, Heartland? How’s it going?”

The table read goes pretty well. Regina even smiles once or twice. The first script is packed with in-jokes from Once.... It’s overkill. She knows they won’t all make the cut but she’s already tired of it.

“Wow Isaac, it’s basically the exact same show but 17 years later, right?” Marian says as they leave.

He laughs like he’s not sure if it’s a joke or not. Emma smiles at Regina on the way out. She doesn’t know what it means, so she leaves without returning it.

-

The reception to the show is ridiculous. If people liked Once... in the 90s, the people who grew up with it and are now their age are in love with the corny in-jokes, the familiarity of the back-and-forth between characters and Once Again... is a hit before it’s even aired.

The filming schedule is intense. Marian thinks it’s because they want to keep costs low in case it doesn’t take off. Henry doesn’t really react when Regina tries to discuss her schedule with him (“It’s going to mean we see each other less, but it’ll only be for a short time. Aunty Zelena is going to stay for a few weeks” she’s met with a shrug). 

Regina’s character, Maria, has grown up to become the mayor of the small town the show is set in. She’s pleased with her story (although Maria is too good for Stevenson, she would have been long gone if it was up to her) and Katie, Emma’s character, has become the sheriff. Once... never made much sense (how many school disasters can one group of kids experience before disbelief becomes unsuspended?) so the distinct lack of old white men at the top of every profession doesn’t seem to matter too much to its believability. She likes the representation of a successful Latina woman, though that might be the only satisfactory representation they have in place.

Her scenes with Emma are fun until they cut and she has nothing to hide behind. Emma’s familiarity with her makes her anxious and she usually leaves set before they can talk. It’s another long day of filming and Katie has just discovered Maria’s bias against her friend, a pinterest-craft-room-mom played by Mary Margaret. They argue, Katie is cocky, her body language is aggressive. Maria is the picture of composure, staring her down and getting enjoyment out of the sheriff’s outburst. They do one take where Maria loses her cool a little and Emma smiles brightly when they cut. The flutter in Regina’s stomach irritates her.

A new producer, some guy whose name she keeps forgetting (it’s not Eddy. Maybe it’s Keith?) pauses the take to ask her to be less explicitly Latina. She takes a deep breath in through her nose before responding.

“I’m not exactly sure what you mean” she chooses her words carefully. What she actually wants to say would probably get her fired.

“We just want it to be in keeping with the original family show” 

They throw the word “family” around as a metaphor for whatever they’re currently trying to shoehorn in (or out). At this point it feels a little like they are trying to sand her down to nothing.

“Maria was Latina in the original show”

“See! The way you said that.”

“Latina?” she repeats just to be sure

“Yes! Exactly! It’s the pronunciation, it’s very Spanish. If you could just tone it down a little so it appeals to the wider family audience” he smiles wide and pulls his headphones back on. 

“Gosh, I didn’t realise white families were so offended by pronunciation. Do you think Sofia Vergara has this problem?”

Not-Eddy laughs, she doesn’t think he heard what she said. She almost suggests they just recast Maria as white until she remembers that they already did that to Lily. She can’t really hold it against the girl. To a low-paid actor a job’s a job. She holds it against the producers, against whatshisface. She gives them the absolute least she can for every single take after that and Emma loses her spark. After a few takes Not-Eddy gives up and they wrap.

She thinks it might just be that one producer, it might just be her they want to cut down into something else, but then she hears rumours about them asking Mulan to just “say something chinese” when she’s supposed to be on the phone to an uncast family member. They hadn’t believed her when she said she didn’t speak it (“I’m from friggin’ California, man”). It’s just a rumour and though she believes it could easily have happened she’s not close enough with Mulan to ask. 

She gets a call from Marian one day that begins and ends in shouting. Someone had asked her to “tone it down” on social media. On enquiry it was because she was “political”. Regina had only caught flashes of what she was saying, but she heard “silencing women of colour” something about bulk ordering Black Lives Matter tshirts and picking up Belizian food on the way to set. 

She lets herself ache with it again. The disappointment, the grief. She had known better than to come back to this awful show. She had been about to turn the offer down until her mother phoned to forbid her from taking it one morning and by the afternoon she was signing a contract. 

When she was a child Cora wouldn’t let her speak spanish. Supposedly it was because she didn’t understand it, but when Regina was older she realised what it really was. Sometime around when she would only let Regina audition for non-latina roles realisation set in. When she used her friends in the industry to keep Regina out of the “death spiral of awful spanish television” it became overt. When Regina’s father left (or really, was sent away) there was no one left to advocate for her and when she was old enough to leave, she followed him. She enjoyed Puerto Rico and met some incredible people, but she was a tourist there. She was a tourist with a connection and she felt it all in her heart, but she knew she didn’t belong there. She worked on a number of Puerto Rican films that received critical acclaim in South America and some international film festivals. But it hadn’t been home and she still felt a hole in her heart, until she found Henry.

When she adopted her son, she found something incredible and when a chance to have love in her life presented itself she took hold of it with both hands. They were happy together for years and Regina needed no one else until her precocious pre-teen son encouraged her to date. Maybe she had been naive about Robin, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to regret the couple of years they spent together. 

Henry seems angry about the divorce. She never got the sense he saw Robin as a father and the break up had been mutual. “It’ll pass” Marian told her “he’s a teenager, this is his thing” but he wasn’t quite a teenager yet and the explanation didn’t feel right.

She sighs and lets the ache turn into anger. She had known better. She had signed up to spite her mother and lo and behold, her own instincts were proven right. Not-Eddy’s face flashes into her mind as he says the word “family” and her blood boils. She’s fixing her hair in her bedroom mirror when she hears her trailer door open

“I cannot believe this is happening again” she shouts to Marian as she heads back into the living area. “Did you speak to Isaac? God I’m so-” she stops when she sees it’s not Marian. It’s Emma.

“Hi”

“Hi” she glares back “Can I help you, Miss Swan?”

“I came to see if you were ok, actually. You seemed kind of-”

“I’m fine”

Emma’s eyebrows raise slowly and the pause feels heavy “Yeah, it sounds like it”

Regina sighs in frustration. Patti Mayonnaise is not going to help her with this one. “What do you want?”

“Uh” Emma holds her hands up and drops them. “I really did come to see if you’re ok. Do you want a friend or do you just want me to disappear and continue to pretend I’m ok with you ignoring me all the time?”

Regina pauses briefly “The second one”

Emma’s shaking her head “why did you even fucking agree to do the show? You obviously hate it”

“Just another one of those rash decisions I grew to regret” It’s low and vicious and the insinuation about their teenage romance is not lost in translation.

Emma stares for a moment, cheeks flushing pink. “Go fuck yourself”

“Well that was easy” Regina sighs as Emma storms towards the door, but turns around.

“God what is wrong with you? No fucking wonder Robin left you”

“Excuse me?” 

Everyone feels so sorry for her, it's almost refreshing to hear this new perspective, or it would be if it wasn’t so entitled. As if she has any idea why they broke up. She never even met Robin.

“No. Wonder. Robin. Left. You. You're not the same person you used to be. You used to be fun and, like, have feelings. Now you're fucking stone cold. You’re basically your mother”

She's kind of enjoying this, Emma's so riled up. She's still in costume as the Sheriff. If she's honest, it works for her. She deserves the dig about her mother and she takes it on the chin. She’s about to invite Emma to leave with a smile when she’s interrupted.

“It's a wonder Henry copes with Cora mark II” Emma jabs. Everything stops, Regina’s enjoyment, the argument, the self-righteous look on Emma’s face. Emma wipes her forehead “shit, I'm-” 

Regina holds up a hand and she stops speaking. “Get. Out.”

“Regina I'm sorry, I didn't-”

“Get out!”

“-mean it, that was so fucked up”

She usually does a good job of keeping Cora’s coldness at the back of her mind. She only uses it for acting when she really has to, but now the memory is everywhere, eating into her and the vision of the same happening to Henry. No. Never. Her tears are about to spill any second. She needs Emma out of here now. She strides across the space, mayor heels assaulting the floor and takes Emma's arm. 

“Out” is all she says. 

Emma's not as easy to move around as she used to be. She's not scrawny and underfed anymore. Those muscles she shows off are solid under Regina's fingers.

“Regina I'm sorry, Henry-”

“Don't you dare say his name” she pushes her towards the door with both hands. Emma steps back, seeming only to move because she chooses to. 

“Please” 

Emma's back hits the door. Regina hadn't thought as far as getting her out. The door is inward opening.

Something about how hard they are staring at each other, and the way the word leaves Emma's mouth does something to change the track of fire in her veins. For a moment they fall into eyes, into the past, into things neither of them really want to talk about, into anger and pain and frustrations. She crushes Emma against the door, kisses her fiercely, only losing hold of her hands because Emma pulls them free to push her away.

She expects them to split, for Emma to run but a second later Emma turns them around, pushing Regina back into the trailer wall. She kisses hard and gasps when she feels Emma’s body press flat against hers. The ache in her chest turns to a burn of old feelings and things she knows she shouldn’t be doing, which makes it good, so so so good.

-

She’s just out of the shower when Marian arrives.

“I brought food” she hears her shout “food with flavour, not that crap from craft services” she seems to be shouting out of the trailer door before it slams. 

Regina is dressed and towelling her hair dry when she re-enters the main part of her trailer. Marian, as promised, has a huge bag of take out. Her mouth waters just at the smell of it.

“Hey”

“Hey” Marian turns to greet her and her face turns from serious to curious.

“What?” Regina asks. She’s certain she tidied up when Emma left.

“What happened?”

“What? Nothing.”

Regina pushes past her, picks up the bag and makes her way to the table. Marian follows, eyes narrowed and scrutiny unrelenting. She can only ignore her for so long. Soon the food is laid out and there is nothing to distract her. 

“Fine.” Regina sighs “I did something”

Marian glances over her, from bare feet to casual (for Regina) clothes, to wet hair and settles on her face with a grin “Or someone?”

Regina’s lips try to smile before she tightens them. A complete betrayal.

“Oh my god! Is that why I saw Emma practically running for her trailer a minute ago? She needed a shower from your banging sesh- wait a minute, did you answer your phone when you were doing it?”

“No. It was a brief encounter. And it won’t be happening again”

Marian looks at her watch, her eyebrow arches but she says nothing and Regina appreciates it. A couple of weeks of pent up frustration exploded in a matter of minutes. They hadn't even gotten their clothes off and Emma was still breathless when she mumbled something and ran for the door. Regina concentrates on the panades and tries her best not to think of Emma’s bottom lip between her teeth and the smell of her skin, something like lilies. She used to smell like Tommy Girl.

After a while she starts talking again. “Are you wearing a Sonia Sotomayer tshirt? Where did you even get that?”

“Online, you want a Ruth Bader Ginsberg one? She’s from Brooklyn too” Marian smiles as she unwraps a tamale. 

Cora had always corrected her when she said she was from Brooklyn. She was. They might have moved when she was little, but she remembers the feeling of home she has since lost. She watches her friend smile like she’s going to get her a tshirt whether she likes it or not, and can’t help but think the best thing that came out of her failed marriage was the friendship she struck up with the mother of Robin’s son.

2

Regina is not one to back down from a fight. She is good at fighting. Some days she actively seeks conflict, those days when Henry is in a mood or after a visit from her mother or when Sheriff Katie is falling over Seamus, her sleazy love interest, and she has to watch. This fight isn't one she is looking forward to but Regina Mills will be damned if she's not going to win it.

She takes the elevator to the third floor offices in the seven storey building. The views from the windows are ok, mostly parking lot, probably all their middling runners deserve. She's running through everything in her mind, what she wants to say about the overt racism in the show, how to deal with the bullshit arguments she knows she'll come up against. She has a plan. As she strides towards Gold’s office she sees not only that the door is closed (excuse her, she has an appointment) but she knows the voice coming from inside.

“-not here because of anyone else, I am genuinely horrified with what I'm reading. I can't be a part of this”

It falls quiet. She listens harder.

“My contract? How about I hit you with a discrimination suit? I might not win but enjoy your ‘family show’ ratings with that hanging over you”

Such sarcasm. It hits her like a brick wall. That's Emma.

“Of course I don't want to, I want you not to let this crap get through! If your writers think white-washing is ok and racism is funny, you need better fucking writers...I know you said you had an appointment so I'll see myself out. I look forward to seeing a revised script”

The door flies open and Emma storms out. Her cheeks are flushed but with her hair tied up and without any cheap leather she actually looks professional. She hesitates when she sees Regina, glances down her body with a pained expression before she heads for the stairwell.

“Ms Mills, sorry you had to hear that” Gold says, leaning on his cane at the door

“I'm not” she says, composure regained, striding into the office with a smirk.

-

Perhaps Gold just didn’t want to go for another round on the horrendous race politics of the show, or maybe he agreed with her. Either way, he had held up his hands and promised change. 

The script doesn't come out the next day, or by the end of the week “just turn up” Marian says “they'll have something”

So when she does arrive on set she's given a script that's still warm and a very large cup of coffee by a scared looking producer who is not Not-Eddy.

“Going in cold I guess” Emma says from a few feet away

“It certainly looks that way” Regina says, flicking to her scenes. She doesn't really want to react to this in front of everyone so she tries to steal a moment to herself but there’s no time. She looks up at Emma, the hesitation in her eyes masked by the sunglasses she's still wearing “is it better?”

Emma smiles, first the left side, then both. “Yeah”

Regina's smile is small but it's enough to turn Emma's into a grin. She nods at her and walks over to the set of the mayor’s office before Emma thinks it means something for them. It doesn't, it's just good. It's really really good.

The scene is better. Katie and Maria are at each other’s throats again but this time in a town meeting. Marian smiles mischievously between takes and Mary Margaret looks concerned. 

“Are you happy with it?” Emma asks after they wrap. They’ve been filming together all day, she must know she’s happy. Happier. It's obnoxious, but it’s the gesture of asking that makes her wonder more than anything.

“Yes” she doesn't elaborate but Emma doesn’t seem to expect her to.

She doesn't know if it's something she can explain in a way Emma will understand. She doesn’t know if she has the energy to explain structural racism tonight. It's a relief that she doesn't have to actively bleach the Latina from Maria, or play up caricatured stereotypes. It's also exhausting that she had to work so hard to get that relief, and probably will again. 

“Me too, I really didn’t think they’d change it” Emma shrugs

“Well it’s all thanks to our white knight, I’m sure” Regina sighs. Emma visibly deflates.

“That’s not what I meant. I didn’t do anything. I just-” Emma is stammering and Regina had been joking. The corners of her mouth tug down as she watches Emma struggle.

“Hey” Marian appears out of nowhere, or maybe from over by the coffee stand, she's not sure. Wherever she came from she's smiling at Emma like she wants her to know she’s in on something. “That was better, huh?”

“Yeah” Emma smiles and glances at Regina

“Ok ladies now let's get in formation” Marian says sternly

“Are we going full Beyonce on the next one?” Regina asks

“You bet, I've got your outfits already” Marian sips her coffee and Regina nods like she expected nothing less. Emma looks nervously between them

“It's a joke, blanca” Marian nudges her in the ribs

Emma laughs kind of awkwardly “I was gonna say, I only know the single ladies dance”

“Well that's typical” Regina rolls her eyes and Emma laughs

“Ok, I'm gonna go” Marian says and heads over to where Mulan is asking craft services for chai tea.

Emma hesitates for a moment before saying goodbye with a small smile and leaving. Regina’s still feeling that bump from the day. It's a victory, however small. However few people notice it, they achieved something. It might be the only good thing they've done together yet. She drifts over to the coffee stand.

“All the single ladies, all the single ladies, now put your hands up” Marian lifts her arm and looks in the direction of Emma and back to Regina. Mulan smiles at Marian and leaves them.

“What?” Regina asks

“She's single” Marian smiles

“Don't be ridiculous”

“I know, it's amazing she's available”

“Women aren't stock items and that's not what I meant”

“I know, it's what I meant and I know I'm right because you are being snippy”

“I-” she stops herself from being, well, snippy “oh shut up”

She’s on her way back to her trailer when she detours to Emma’s. It’s a bad idea and what is she going to say? And what if she’s with Killian rehearsing their disgustingly problematic canon roma-

“Hi” Emma’s smile greets her and she forgets what she’s thinking

“Hi”

“...do you want to come in?”

“May I?”

“Yeah”

She has never had so much difficulty in climbing three steps, but her brain seems to have forgotten how to make her body walk. Her legs are going purely by some kind of instinct that feels like one of those cars you pull back and let run. Somehow she manages and before she knows what she’s doing, the trailer door is closed and she’s speaking.

“I just thought I should clear things up, I didn’t mean to upset you earlier so I apologise-”

“No need, I’m fine”

“Right well, that’s good. Thank you for playing your role in it all-”

“Yeah, you know, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept and whatever, I didn’t do anything special”

“Well, fine then...also we should probably talk about-”

“I’m going to kiss you”

“Ok”

They end up on Emma’s couch and this time they do manage to get clothes off. Regina pulls and pulls at Emma’s skin tight jeans.

“Jesus christ, what kind of sheriff wears pants this tight?” Once they are past her knees they slide off with more ease. Regina throws them on the floor and drags her nails up Emma’s legs.

“Fictional ones” Emma groans out “what kind of mayor gets on her knees for her- ah! Fuck” 

-

Weeks pass and the guilt she feels at leaving Henry so early and coming home so late is slightly eased by the middle of the day encounters with Emma.

Trust Emma's only trailer requirement to be a double bed so she can starfish while she sleeps. Regardless Regina is grateful for it, oh yes she is. Firmly out of denial and into whatever this should be called (old time’s sake? Stress relief?) Whatever it is, her stomach flips when Emma groans between her legs.

“God I forgot how good you smell”

“What??” Her head lifts but only for a second. Emma kisses again and her whole body spasms. She drops back into the pillows and whatever Emma was saying no longer seems important.

She stretches, hands seeking something to hold onto. Bed sheets and pillows have to do. She crushes them in her fists, trying to maintain some semblance of composure. Gasps escape her mouth when Emma’s tongue is direct and her legs jump to every flick. She would be embarrassed if she wasn't working so hard to keep her hands out of Emma's hair, to hold in groans of delight that fill her chest. They would be much more embarrassing, making it harder for her to pretend she doesn’t want it to continue. That would be an awkward conversation. She just wants this, now. And if it happened again she would take it. God would she take it. She loses her concentration and suddenly she’s pulling Emma closer into her, cursing everything and arching away from the bed.

-

The scripts stay pretty good. Gold drops by the set to see how things are going. He scrutinises Katie and Maria’s scenes but stays behind the camera, never commenting, smirks going unexplained. He’s up to something but between work and Henry, Regina doesn’t have time to figure out what.

Their “brief encounters” are taken when and where they can be. Emma expresses an interest in Maria’s office when everyone has left the set. Regina shoots it down but doesn’t forget it. She thinks about Maria sitting on the desk while Katie kneels at her feet. It’s...interesting.

“What are we doing?” she asks breathlessly as Emma kisses up her neck from behind.

“I mean-” Emma lifts Regina's leg so her knee is up on the arm of her trailer sofa. She feels her hands slide up her thighs and push the fabric of her skirt, (“god damn tight ass mayor skirt”), up enough to touch her. Emma's tongue is doing something on her neck that makes her skin practically fizz. “I think it's pretty obvious” Emma finishes

She doesn't question further. Emma's fingers push aside her underwear and they are close. They’re physically close, but somehow it's more than that. Emma's inside her, grinding against her, making her forget the question that was on her tongue. They're close, her moans and gasps escape and she's embarrassed but she likes the way Emma reacts to it, with noises of her own, a whine, a groan into her neck that's followed by teeth and a suck. There are clothes between their bodies but something about the way they are in this instance is closer than she has ever been to anyone.

Emma is strong, she has stamina, she finds the angle and if she cramps she must push through because lord, Regina is there in minutes. Has it been minutes? It feels like nothing, not enough, she wants more but she wants it to last and she can't have both. Emma is giving and giving and she's losing her grip on whatever she was holding.

“Emma” she says maybe for the first or maybe the hundredth time 

Something hot, gasping against her ear. “Say my name again” Emma whispers, not a question, a demand 

“Oh god” she doesn't want to but the way her fingers curl inside her “Emma!”

And she's rewarded by a groan that shakes and gives her goosebumps. Everything is tingling and fire and she feels her body crushing into its climax

“Again” it's desperate and breathless, is Emma coming too?

“Em-ma” she manages before her entire body fractures into fragments of light and energy. Emma keeps going and it's agony and she's certain she can't handle another second when Emma jerks behind her.

“Uh, Regina” Emma shudders into her neck

She can't move, no energy, no inclination. Emma is still shaking and pressed against her. She supposes she should have wondered what Emma's other hand had been doing.

She breathes and feels the ache of reality crawl back upon them. Usually she would push her away. She would make a quick exit, wash her hands, feel guilty for the whole drive home to Henry. But she can't bring herself to. She lets them stand like this together for another moment, just holding onto whatever the feeling is that goes unnamed. They breathe the same air for another moment until Emma is pushing off her. She turns in time to see Emma's jeans buttoning up and the flush of redness creeping up her neck.

It's so quiet. The rush of passion that drowned everything else out is gone and the vacuum that exists between them is painful.

“You're good at that” Regina says

It's vulgar but what else could she say? Emma smiles but looks away. She swallows hard like she doesn't want to say what she's thinking. Regina wishes she hadn't said anything at all.

“Well” Emma shrugs “you make it easy”

“What does that mean?”

She shrugs again and avoids her eyes. Regina decides that the clenching feeling in her chest means that she should have just gotten out of there. Rather than make it worse she smoothes her hair back and leaves.

“See you on set” her words come out rigid as she leaves.

Emma nods, head still down. What are they doing?

3

They don't meet up in secret for weeks. Regina decides they came too close to something and they need a time out. She doesn’t communicate this to Emma and at first Emma seems unphased by the lack of invitations and the return of quick exits after scenes. As time passes she withdraws. She lets herself be fussed over by Mary Margaret and (when he isn't arguing with Kathryn) David. Regina doesn't engage. She keeps the mayor face on until she's home when she usually falls asleep straight after whatever dinner she hasn’t really eaten. Marian makes no secret of keeping an eye on her.

Before they even know it the season 1 wrap party is upon them. She expects the driver of the minivan to be the one who knocks. 

“Just tell him I'll be right there” she calls to Henry from her bedroom door

“Actually do you mind if I wait?” Emma asks from the hall below

“Oh. No” 

It's only a couple of minutes later when she gets down to the hall. Emma is in a suit…Henry is animated when he talks to her and Zelena is leaning on a pillar, arms crossed with a wicked smile on her face. Regina snaps back to reality, straightens her head and forces herself to stop thinking of alternative uses for that tie.

“Hey” Emma’s smile falters a little “wow you look incredible”

Obviously she doesn't care so much what Henry and Zelena think their relationship is. Maybe she’s just less paranoid.

“Thank you. Shall we?”

“Yeah, see you kid, bye Zelena, nice to see you again”

“Yes, you too sheriff” Zelena holds the glare Regina gives her

“Enjoy hanging out, don’t stay up too late” Regina kisses Henry's head and follows Emma out the door.

Mary Margaret fills the awkward silence with awkward chatter. Regina’s seatbelt hardly seems good for anything. Every corner they turn she seems to fall closer into Emma and every time she’s sure she gasps quietly. Kathryn seems to be pretending no one else exists. David is looking at Mary Margaret like a wounded animal. Mulan and Marian are deep in conversation in the back.

“And so, Regina remember when we had to do that thing?” Mary Margaret asks

She was not listening at all. Her hand was accidentally on Emma’s well tailored trouser leg and she wasn’t expecting a direct question.

“Anyway, it was the horse riding scene and I was so bad, she totally saved my life”

Everyone looks at Regina, even Kathryn. Her hand slides quickly off Emma’s leg onto her own.

“It was nothing, really” she shrugs

“Oh don’t say that. My dad was so grateful he was just about ready to marry you”

“So anyway” Marian interrupts, well aware of how real that threat had been. Mary Margaret gives her the smile of someone relieved to be passing on the conversational baton “I am already starving and they’re not doing food, just drinks. Who wants to go to Chipotle when this is over?”

“Drunk?” Emma asks. It might be the first word she’s said since she got in the car

“Very” Marian replies. “Up for it?”

“Very” Emma nods

-

The red carpet is fun. She enjoys playing up her sultry alter-ego. There are so many questions from reporters. How was filming? Spoilers for season 2? Favourite person to act with? Favourite line? She answers the polite ones, the rude ones she ignores. She signs things and takes pictures with fans. Some are dressed as Maria and they are her favourites. She tells them they are beautiful because they are.

“Of course” she says, taking a camera from one of them. “Are you ready?” she asks as behind her they scramble into the frame, beaming and laughing and oh-my-god-ing. “That was a great one” she smiles as she passes it back “send it to me on twitter”

“You never go on twitter” one says

“I know, I don’t know what to say, but I see you all. I see what you send me”

They start to reply when there’s a surge in crowd screams. Mary Margaret appears on the red carpet and the cameras begin to flash again. Despite the mini bus, Gold has ordered a staggered arrival. He doesn’t want people to know they skimp on drivers apparently.

They pose for pictures together, Regina slightly threatening and Mary Margaret playing along in character. The photographers snap it up and the fans love it. She’s talking to a fan about Maria’s journey of redemption when there is another cheer from the crowd. She turns to look, hoping for Marian but sees Emma. She expects to be disappointed but she isn't. She can't really address what she does feel there and then. Whatever it is, her mask slides back into place over it. 

Emma turns in surprise, she’s not even on the red carpet yet, she was only taking her jacket off on the way up. She smiles like they’re messing with her and speeds up to meet fans.

“Regina?”

She turns back to face the fan and phone waving in her face. 

“Sorry I think I have to go, other people will be coming along soon. Thank you so much for coming tonight”

She signs a few last things on her way and can’t help stopping to cuddle a little boy who says he wants to be Maria when he grows up. Emma is making her way up the carpet so she waves a final goodbye and heads inside. The bar they hired out is nice. Marian is quizzing the bar staff on the most expensive tequila they have when she arrives at her side.

“Ooh make it two, make it two. Casa Herradura will do nicely”

Two glasses of tequila are set down in front of them.

“It’s a free bar, ma’am” the bartender says as Marian pulls a couple of bills from her wallet.

“Yes I know, this is for you, keep them coming” she lifts her glass and winks at the man.

“Oh good, I foresee nothing going wrong with this plan” Regina says, lifting the other

“I’m not forcing you to drink tequila with me. Why not go and drink with…” she turns to look around. Emma appears at the door at that moment and though tequila finds its way into Regina’s nose and (she’s pretty sure) her lungs, she manages to hide it with a hum of enjoyment.

Marian quirks an eyebrow at her. Her entire face is on fire from the inside out but she smiles back. “Delicious”

“I’m sure” Marian frowns back “two more please!”

“I'm going to powder my nose”

She makes sure she's alone in the bathroom before blowing her nose. She remembers something Killian told her once at a mixer for the show. “You'll drink tequila until it comes out of your nose, then you'll never drink it again”

It is technically coming out of her nose, it feels like it's steaming her sinuses. She decides to return to tequila to prove a point, reapplies lipstick and heads out of the bathroom. 

“And there was this whole thing about how he said he had these investments but I did a full background check on him that morning, it was all crap” Emma is saying

There are more of the regular cast around the tall tables than Regina ever really sees in one place. Maria can be bit of a loner so it’s nice to see their faces.

“Sheriff by day, sheriff by night?” Regina asks. Marian’s eyes flick to the fresh glasses on the table and she takes one.

“Just talking about an old job. Bailbondsperson”

She nods and sips. Usually she’d make a comment so sharp she could sashay away without the recipient realising they've been insulted, but she just can't bring herself to do it while she’s thwarting the wit of Killian Jones and standing hip to hip with his rumoured (in the trashy press) love interest. 

“What about you guys? You can't always have been in acting” Emma diverts attention away from herself

“I was a maid at one point” Belle says and Ruby takes a deep breath behind her.

“Is everyone working on this show queer?” Regina says under her breath to Marian

“It's showbiz” Marian smiles “and who could blame us? I mean, God”

Regina follows her line of sight to Mulan, drinking beer in a beautiful suit, talking to the only writer of colour.

“How's your guy?” Regina asks

“Oh, good, he's good. He went home for a few weeks to reconnect with himself”

“You gonna go too?” Emma asks from Regina’s other side. She realises the warmth on her skin is coming from contact with Emma and she feels warmth bloom embarrassingly in her cheeks.

“Yeah, I fly out tomorrow actually, now we’re all done filming. I'm only here tonight to make sure Regina doesn't go home with someone she shouldn't”

Regina rolls her eyes 

“That'll be a job even for you” 

“I know” Marian laughs along

“You'll need that trip to Samoa” Emma smiles and drinks and Regina hates them both. Emma downs her drink and turns to the conversation on her left.

“You’re not helping” Regina says quietly

“Oh please, I’m the only one that’s helping” Marian replies

They mingle and split up. Marian is friends with literally everyone. Everyone who has worked on the season is at the party, which means lots of people are in a good place for new projects. Everyone is trying to poach Marian. “I have a few things going on” she smiles and charms people she turns down so they’re left with nothing but warm admiration. “I’d love to get together and do some work on that” she says earnestly to the people she takes up. 

Regina enjoys a small group of female executives who have gathered. Her technical industry knowledge is an asset and when she jokes they all laugh. She notices one catch another’s eye. She’s not what they had expected, and that pleases her no end. She watches Emma out of the corner of her eye. She feels like she knows where she is even when she can’t see her. It surprises them both when she looks up for the first time that night and sees Emma on a balcony she didn’t know existed.

“Regina, what do you say? The work you did on La Borinqueña was so raw but beautifully handled, you would be perfect for this”

It takes her a moment to realise what has been said.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Miss Young”

“It’s Tamara, please” The woman waves at the formality and touches her arm. Regina lets the corner of her mouth curl in answer. 

“Enjoy your evening, ladies” 

She goes in search of the stairs that lead to ~~Emma~~ the balcony and when she finds them, finds the woman herself coming down.

“Hey” Emma’s head is down but her eyes catch Regina’s briefly.

“Are you ok?”

For a moment Emma looks like she’s going to ask if Regina cares but seems to think better of it.

“I don’t fit in here” she shrugs “I can’t schmooze like you can, I can’t network like Marian”

“No one can network like Marian, dear” her head tilts and she offers a smile that Emma misses.

“Guys only want to hit on me and I’m not fucking interested but they don’t care, they do it anyway. They never seem to stop”

That’s the closest thing to a declaration on her sexuality Regina has ever heard and Emma looks completely downtrodden. She hears people enter the corridor behind her but she can’t bear to leave Emma in the mire of what she’s feeling.

She takes an educated guess that the door on her right is a closet, takes Emma’s hand and pulls them inside. She flicks the light on and they find it’s an unlocked store room full of alcohol and huge rolls of blue kitchen paper.

“If you wanna get hammered we could just go back to the bar” 

Trust Emma to slide back behind jokes when she finally has her full attention.

“I won’t stop you from going back, you just seem like you want to talk about things” Regina says

The vulnerable look is back in Emma’s eyes and she wants to wrap her up and protect her from the world that only takes and never gives anything back to Emma Swan.

“I don’t know, I just...this isn’t my scene”

“An awkward party full of people you barely know? I think it’s ok if it’s not your scene, Emma”

She sighs and her eyes stay on the linoleum floor “It looks like your scene”

“I’m glad it looks that way, I’d much rather be at home watching Su- something on tv”

“Su-something?” Regina doesn’t reply “Were you going to say Superman?” she frowns “Supergirl?! Oh my god you watch Supergirl?” 

“Henry likes it! It’s the only thing we watch that I don’t have to pretend to like! There are good, feminist themes throughout although I still think it should be Superwoman, infantilising her like that seems contradictory to the overall-”

“Regina” Emma is suddenly very close and her head is tilted down like it does when they are about to kiss. Suddenly she’s breathless, latent claustrophobia, surely. “Shut up about Supergirl”

Regina clears her throat “don’t you want to talk?”

“Not really” She stumbles into Emma and realises she's arms around her waist pulling them together.

She’s trying to ask what she would rather do but her brain diverts all of her focus on the way Emma’s dimples appear even when she’s not smiling, and the flecks of gold in her eyes. She was going to ask something but then Emma’s eyes close and hers follow and then they’re kissing. Her back presses against something and she feels Emma against her front. Emma kisses her like her life depends on it. It’s exhilarating for a moment but when her senses come back Regina remembers she was upset. She can’t let Emma set the pace or she’ll burn them out completely. Or burn down the club in their secret liquor closet. She traces up the lapels of Emma’s suit and slides her hand around the back of her neck and into her hair.

Emma doesn’t whimper exactly but she lets a breath go, it’s the slightest noise, the briefest brush of air on Regina’s skin but it sets her on fire. Emma’s reaction to simple gestures of affection make her hurt deeply. She slows their kisses until they are less grinding and more intimate. Her fingers draw circles on Emma’s scalp and she feels her shiver. Emma moves to kiss her neck. From the way her lips and tongue work together she knows it’s the first step of many that will end with Emma on her knees in front of her.

“No” Regina whispers and nudges Emma’s nose with hers when she looks up at her.

“S-Sorry, I thought-” Emma begins but stops when they turn and it’s her back against the wall.

“You first this time” Regina kisses her cheek, her jaw, her ear as her hand slides around Emma’s waist and squeezes her hip.

“But…” Emma manages between kisses that feel less like sex and more like something else, something that Regina can’t think about right now. Her fingers find the button of Emma’s trousers. She pulls millimetres away and, opens her eyes and waits until Emma opens hers. The tiniest nod is her signal. She pops the button and slides her hand past the waistband. Emma gasps and Regina swallows it, and the next one, and the next. Their bodies move in ways that don’t seem to belong to two separate people. They don’t push or pull, they ebb and flow together until Emma’s lips don’t work anymore and she shakes harder than Regina. Her stomach muscles tighten and her eyes shut tightly. Regina can’t tear hers away from the pulse in Emma’s neck, from the way she bares her teeth and breathes through them like she’s halfway between bliss and torture. She kisses her skin, kisses and kisses until she feels Emma’s hand against the one pressing inside her telling her to stop.

-

“Can I buy you a drink?” Emma asks from her side.

She keeps her eyes down and her smile only flickers briefly “No, Miss Swan, it’s a free bar”

“Then can I tip the bartender on your behalf?”

Regina catches Emma scratch the back of her neck and glance around.

“By all means, tip the bar staff on my behalf all night”

She hadn’t mean it to sound suggestive, but Emma’s eyes twinkle with mischief and she can’t quite bring herself to undo it.

“Can I have something that looks alcoholic but isn’t?” Emma asks a bartender

“Feeling ok?” Regina asks, not because she worries, not at all.

“Yeah, I just don’t want to drink anymore”

After a brief back-and-forth about what she likes and doesn’t the bartender places a drink in front of Emma that’s in a short, wide and pleasingly round glass. It’s deep reddy orange with a curl of lime peel on top. Emma looks up with a grin.

“What is it?”

“Grenadine, lime juice and cloudy lemonade. It’s called a Barbara Martin”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll leave the party early”

Regina snorts and feels her shoulders lift. Before she can stop herself she’s laughing her real laugh at an event where she’s supposed to be industry-Regina, the one where she’s protected and inscrutable. She turns to Emma, covering her mouth and continues to laugh when Emma clearly doesn’t get it. Emma smiles anyway and hands the bartender a twenty. He smirks a look at Regina and Emma passes him another ten.

“Will you be leaving early, then?” Regina asks once she has regained her composure

“I don’t know if 1am is early” Emma says, checking her watch

“5am is early, 1am is leaving to go to another party” Regina raises an eyebrow as she sips her own drink

“As if I have another party. Want to come with me?” Emma asks

Regina smiles for a little longer and watches anticipation grow on Emma’s face with guilt. 

“I can’t. Chaperone” she gestures in the direction where Marian is having an intense conversation with Mulan where they sit very close and don’t make eye contact for more than a few seconds.

“That looks messy”

Regina just watches. It’s uncomfortable and raw. She looks back at Emma to compare what they have.

“What?” Emma asks

“Nothing”

Emma’s eyes narrow and she sips the rest her of her drink through a straw. “Whatever. I’m going. Try not to miss me”

“Should be easy enough” she dismisses but Emma’s smile widens.

She doesn’t watch her go, she still has a shred of self control, for god’s sake.

“Scotch. Neat” she hears a familiar voice beside her

She glances at the mirror that lines the back of the bar. She knows she looks fine but she just double checks she doesn't have smeared lipstick or sex hair. She doesn't.

“Mr Gold” She greets him cordially

“Miss Mills”

She prefers Ms and he knows that. She's not a child. 

“What a pleasure to see you and Miss Swan getting along. I wonder what the secret to your success is” 

He sips his drink and doesn't blink. Did he see them? Did someone hear them? She supposes they weren't as careful as usual tonight. Maybe it's just Emma’s demands for better writing that mostly benefit Regina, or the way she occasionally looks at her with unbridled joy, someone was bound to notice that soon. She doesn't smile while she thinks about it, even when Emma’s dimples and sparkly eyes appear in her mind and warm her heart. Sweet girl.

“How is your son? Harry is it?”

“Henry” she corrects, though she knows it’s for show. He knows his name.

“Of course, I beg your pardon. Yes Henry. I hope he takes all of this quite well”

“All of what?” 

“You know, the attention” she frowns and watches him contemplate his next words “you've done well to keep him out of the public eye so far, protected him from the press. I hope nothing happens to ruin that for him. Can't control what the public wants to see after all, and the paparazzi can be relentless” He holds up his glass and his hard eyes seem to be trying to push into her, to find a crack they can prise apart and break her.“To family”

She clinks her glass with his because appearing unaffected is the only way to deal with him. He slurps whiskey like he drinks it often and leaves her at the bar, letting his false smile slip as he goes, baring pointy teeth. 

She turns to look at the room, needing an audience to keep her mask in place, to keep her hands still and her breathing even. She sees Marian and Mulan who are now inches away from each other and trying not to touch. She watches the way Lance’s eyes linger on Killian and the way Killian freaks out and leaves. Lance smiles like that was his plan and catches Regina’s eye. He nods at her and she returns it. She doesn’t bother to drain her glass before she heads over to Marian.

“Time to go, dear” she says in her ear

“I...I think I should ssstay” Marian says, just about tearing her eyes from Mulan as she looks around the room.

“I think you have an early flight tomorrow, querida”

Marian sighs “shit. Yeah ok”

“I’ll meet you at the door”

She hates dragging Marian away from something that looks important for her, but she does have an early flight, and Regina really, really wants to go home and look in on Henry.

4

Henry is slamming doors again. He’s barely talking and he’s always on his phone. It’s not Robin. He’s been around for a visit and Henry only said two words to him, hello and bye. She can’t do it anymore. Maybe letting him get this far has been coddling, but she hadn’t had it in her to push him like Cora used to push her, to threaten and scare. Not to her little prince.

“Henry, I think we should talk”

He closes the book he’s reading, which is as close to an invitation as she’s going to get.

“Robin said he’d come up again for your birthday” His eyebrows raise though his eyes stay dull. “Do you want him to?” Henry shrugs. She nods. 

“This isn't about Robin is it?”

He sighs and she presses her lips together as a thousand worries surface. She waits for him to be ready to talk. He bites the inside of his lip and it reminds her of Emma.

“I like someone” he says eventually

Approximately half of her worries subside. “Do they like you?”

“I don't know”

“Are they someone from school?” He scowls “what? I’m just interested”

“Yeah” he says and frowns at his bed sheets

“So what's stopping you from finding out?” she brushes his hair behind his ear. It’s automatic and she expects him to bat her hand away. He doesn’t but he brushes it back over his face when she’s done.

“I'm just scared I guess”

She gets it. She knows how it feels to like someone so much that the idea that they don't like you is scarier than the uncertainty. She had been older when it happened to her and if that idiot hadn’t kissed her she never would have known.

“Like, when you started dating Robin, was it scary?” 

Oh.

“I...it…” Everything about their relationship was easy and neutral and placid. Until the end “no, it just happened”

“Did you love him?”

“We were married” she says like the answer is implicit

He stares back for a moment like it's definitely not, then looks away. Whatever he wants to hear, she hasn't said it yet. She takes his hand and his fingers curl around hers.

“Henry, I know it can be scary. I know it can be the scariest thing that's ever happened. But you don’t have to decide if you're going to act on your feelings straight away. It's also ok not to, but if you decide that then you have to put it to bed. And if you decide to act, you have to be brave, querido. It's so scary but it might be so worth it. It might be so great that you forget why you were ever scared in the first place. It might build you up until you feel so amazing that you might never be scared again. Is it worth the risk? Only you know.”

His mouth twists to the side and he picks at a loose thread in his bed cover the way Emma picks at anything she can find when talking about things that involve feelings. 

“When I adopted you, I was terrified. It was the biggest, most important thing I had ever done. I never regretted it, not for a single second. Not when I hadn't slept a night through for months after you came home” He smiles and her heart lifts. “Not when you crushed my favourite Christmas ornament when you were a toddler. Not when you tried to change the colour of my Mercedes with your paint set”

“I was doing you a favour! It's your favourite colour!”

“Yes, darling. It was a very thoughtful, very expensive favour. I had never been so scared in my life than when I held you for the first time, but not a day goes by that I am not grateful for you. Do you know what things are the scariest? The things that matter the most.”

He flings his arms around her. It's the first hug they've had in days and she basks in it. She squeezes him back hard, letting him bury his face in her neck and she smells his hair. She tells him a few more stories of naughty things he did as a child. Her favourite is the “potions” he used to make with her expensive perfumes and lotions in the bathroom. She tells him how she would regularly have to wash hundreds of dollars of cosmetics down the sink before she realised he was trying to recreate George’s Marvellous Medicine and got him onto Matilda to form better habits instead. 

The doorbell rings and she's still smiling when she answers it.

“Emma” 

She stands there in the red jacket Regina hates and the beanie she doesn’t really mind but makes fun of all the same.

“Hi. I'm just...I was about to leave for Boston. I'm not coming back for Season 2 of the show.”

For a moment Regina just stares, her mind takes a moment to catch up. That means she’ll be gone for good.

“There's no show without you” she says. She doesn’t care about the show but it just comes out of her mouth.

“I'm sure they'll find a way” Emma smiles briefly “look, I'm leaving but I needed to ask you something before I go”

“Come in” Regina steps back. Emma looks into the entrance hall before dropping her eyes to her feet.

“No, I'll be really quick”

Regina doesn't argue, but glances down the street through the complex. After her conversation with Gold everyone she doesn’t recognise looks like a covert photographer.

“I think there's something between us. I think that you only pretend not to care and don't actually hate my hat and when I left last night I felt like” she rubs her chest as she looks for the words “I felt like it mattered. If you say no, I'll go to Boston and you'll never have to see me again.”

“I…” 

What is it about Emma Swan that confuses her? She is a solvent for reason. She crosses lines and breaks rules. She takes the order and structure of Regina’s life and jumbles them around. She can't be standing here, saying these things, it's against all of their unspoken rules. 

“I don’t need anything from you. I just want to know if it’s real, if it could be something, because it feels like a lot of something to me.” Emma stops shuffling from side to side to watch for Regina’s decision.

She's not allowed to feel this way. She doesn't know what she wants, she knows she doesn't want Emma to go to Boston. She doesn't want her to go away. Part of her recognises she is dangerous and needs to stay away, but the rest of her needs her to stay close. 

A man walking slowly up the street with a bag catches her eye and the dream that had been slowly forming in her mind comes crashing down around her. Henry. Press. Fans. Expectations. She can't.

“I can't, Emma” she says 

Emma's eyes close and the ache in her chest explodes.

“You can't? Does that mean you don't feel it? Or...?”

I do, she thinks. The feeling she has kept locked away and ignored that Emma knows is there flares again.

“Will you please just be straight with me for one second? Is this something? Could it be something?”

She absolutely knows for sure that she has no idea, that the idea scares and thrills her and that is in no way an answer. They're just teenagers again and she's so scared again but this time it's her choice. 

“Because we could figure it out.” Emma continues “Like we could get a press injunction or something, or just be careful if you want. I know it's all about keeping Henry safe”

And just like that, the magic word, the name of her son shrinks everything she wants and needs out of existence, because he is so much more important.

“I have to do what's best for him, and this isn't it. I can't. You understand”

I have to do what's best for you, Cora’s voice echoes in her mind as she watches Emma turn towards the path leading out of the complex. You understand.

She watches her shoulders slope, she watches for the perpetual bounce in her step but it's gone. She steps out so she can watch her back as she walks down the path but sees an obvious photographer and flinches back inside. 

“Mom!”

“Henry, what are you- were you listening?”

“Mom-”

“You shouldn't-”

“Mom!” He shouts and it echoes around the empty entrance hall “how could you say all that stuff to me before, all that stuff about deciding to love and then let Emma go like that?”

“I…what?”

“You already know she loves you too! If you don't go get her right now she's never coming back. We need her!”

“We do?”

“You need her, and I need you. If you don't go after her, everything you just told me means nothing”

She can barely process what he's saying. He looks so grown up, lecturing her about love and life. She should tell him off but he's right and she knows it. 

-

“Miss Swan!”

“Fuck” Emma jumps as she turns around

She had walked pretty slowly out of the gardens and main gate as soon as she was out of Regina’s view. She caught up just as Emma reached her car. Emma's cheeks are pink and tear stained

“Yeah, what? Did I leave something at yours?” Emma asks

Regina almost shakes with adrenaline. Her words are gone and she's trying desperately not to succumb to the indignity of being out of breath. There are more people outside the safety of the complex, any could be press. Emma's eyes seem bluer that she has ever seen them and ringed with sadness about to blink from them any moment.

She does the only thing she can to express all of it at once. She moves forward and kisses her. Emma stumbles back into the car, but her arms bring Regina with her. Someone gasps nearby but she doesn't care. She can hear Henry whooping and smiles, ending her ability to kiss. When she opens her eyes Emma is crying again.

“Did I not make myself clear?” She asks, wiping tears away with her thumbs

“Don't ruin this moment by being an ass”

“Miss Swan, I hardly-”

She's cut off again by Emma's kiss and softens, falling deeper into her. Until Emma is truly pinned against the car and Henry’s cheers drop off.

“Can I tweet about this?” Henry asks.

Regina turns to him and sees a photographer further down the sidewalk snapping away. She sighs. “I suppose you might as well”

“I’m tagging you” He says as Emma pulls him into a one armed hug

“What are you saying? Should I get twitter?”

“Yes! And here”

He shows them the candid shot of them nose to nose and looking into each other’s eyes. On anyone else Regina thinks it would be revolting but on them it’s adorable. She reads the tweet that goes with it.  
_  
@henrysayshi: Hey #swanmills shippers you are never going to guess what! #oncers #lgbt #lovewins_


End file.
